Upcoming Programs

On Saturday, January 9, Visual Arts Alliance (VAA) presents a first look at FotoFest’s 2016 Biennial – CHANGING CIRCUSTANCES, Looking at the Future of the Planet. Vinod Hopson, FotoFest Press Coordinator, will offer an early overview of the exhibitions and programs. This free program will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. in unit 2 at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, 77007.

There will be a discussion of the Changing Circumstances theme, which focuses on the creative and scientific visions for the future of our planet and its’ inhabitants. The preview also presents an opportunity for guests to become acquainted with Silver Street Studios, which is FotoFest’s location in the Washington Avenue Cultural District. Participants will learn about the many components that make up the six-week Biennial including curated exhibitions, participating spaces, The Meeting Place (aka “The Olympics of Photography”), auction and bike scramble which occurs in March and April of 2016.

As part of its educational outreach, VAA presents monthly programs that are open to the public. There is no charge to attend and registration is not necessary.

For its February program, Visual Arts Alliance presents four emerging artists in the Houston arts scene. On Saturday, February 6, beginning at 10 a.m., attendees will have the opportunity to meet and visit with Ana Archer, Kyong Burke, Lorena Morales and Kelyne Reis in their studios at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, 77007

The four artists are diverse in style, inspirations, age and home country. The connecting factor is that they all maintain their studios at Silver Street Studios and are quickly becoming known in the city’s art circle. The artists’ works and concentrations include:

Ana Archer, known for her large abstract painting, applies acrylic paints in primary colors onto the canvas creating form and texture with the volume and viscosity of the paint.

Kyong Burke is currently concentrating on a series with different subjects created in varying styles with different media.

Lorena Morales creates paintings and sculptures on plexiglass acrylic sheets. The paintings and sculptures vary depending on a room’s lighting as well as the angle of the viewer.

Kelyne Reis plays with bold colors, lines and graphic shapes, with color becoming the subject in her works. She lets bold colors interact with one another, hides details, combines unexpected hues and works with strong contrasts to create simple paintings.

Along with tours of each of the artists’ studios, guests can view the Collective Art Show in the Hall Gallery of Silver Street Studios and drop in other artists’ studios in the building. The program will begin at 10 a.m. outside the Kelyne Reis Art Studio, #213, Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, 77007.

As part of its educational outreach, VAA presents monthly programs that are open to the public. There is no charge to attend and registration is not necessary.

Visual Arts Alliance presents discussion
of jurors’ criterion for art competitions Saturday, March 5Rare opportunity to get first-hand comments on selection process from three well-known jurors

The three speakers, all of whom have been jurors for VAA, will discuss their selection processes when judging a competition. Previously submitted works will be projected for the audience, and panelists will discuss the selection/elimination process applied to each work. Artists will discover the whys and hows of selection from a juror’s point of view, including the constants of technique and presentation as well as the unique personal biases of jurors.

On Saturday, March 5, Visual Arts Alliance (VAA) offers members and guests a rare insight into a juror’s selection process for art competitions with a free discussion by three prominent figures in the Houston art world: Chris Higham, noted Houston art collector and active volunteer in the Houston arts community; Gus Kopriva, owner of Redbud Gallery, Houston; and Dr. Anna Tahinci, Ph.D., Professor and Head of Art History at Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The free presentation begins at 10:00 a.m. in the auditorium of The Glassell School of Art, 2450 Holcolmbe Blvd., 2nd floor, Houston 77021. Parking is at entrance 81.

“VAA is so pleased to be able to present this first-hand look into a juror’s thought process. Every artist who has ever entered a competition wonders what makes a piece worthy of selection. What does a juror look for? How does a juror’s background affect the selection process? These are the questions the morning’s session will investigate,” says Matt Adams, President at VAA. “This is a rare opportunity for artists to get inside the mind of a juror and learn how to make each submission the best.”

On Saturday, April 2 at 10 a.m., Visual Arts Alliance (VAA) presents art enthusiasts a unique opportunity to get a first-hand look at the city’s street art scene during a two-hour tour of some of the best murals and street art in the city.

Lead by Joel Carpenter, local street art expert and curator of www.gulfcoastgraffiti.com, the group will travel by bus through downtown and midtown, offering guests a first-hand look and first-person discussion of the artwork, the lingo and the artists. Several local artists, including Daniel Anguilu, Black Cassidy and Scott Tarbox, have been invited to join the group.

The Houston Street Art tour will begin at 10 a.m. at Cecil’s Pub, 600 W. Gray Street, 77019. Mimosas will be served to launch the tour plus snacks and adult beverages will be provided. The tour will return to Cecil’s at 12 p.m. and guests are invited to celebrate at a special happy hour.

A carnival of glittering glass, an homage to folk art and a family-friendly green space, there’s no place quite like Smither Park.

Part collaborative art installation, part civil engineering project, the park reminds us to revere nature as a source of inspiration, and at its heart is “The Orange Show.” From 1956 to his death in 1980, Houston postman Jeff McKissack worked in isolation to transform an East End lot into an architectural maze of walkways, balconies, arenas and exhibits decorated with mosaics and brightly-painted iron figures.

Join the Visual Arts Alliance for a private, docent-led tour of this incredible space Saturday, May 7 from 10 to 11 a.m. Admission is free for the first 20 people, then $5 per person, to “The Orange Show,” 2402 Munger Street, where members and non-members will learn about one of Houston’s quirkiest landmarks. After the tour, attendees are invited to experience Smither Park, featuring an amphitheater, memory wall, meditation area, covered pavilion, swings and an interactive sculpture. Structures in the park are adorned with elaborate mosaic work created out of recycled and found materials and designed and executed by local artists and those interested in exploring their own creative potential.

Smither Park is a work of art in progress, providing a unique opportunity to see artists in action and the evolution of an international artistic destination. The space is a project of The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art in collaboration with renowned architect and designer Dan Phillips. McKissack created “The Orange Show” in honor of his favorite fruit and to illustrate his belief that longevity results from both hard work and good nutrition.

Imagine a “gym” for creatives, with a month to month contract where artists and makers of all kinds can go and exercise their ideas and build their artistic muscles. East of downtown Houston, Houston Makerspace is exactly that. Join VAA on Saturday, June 4 from 10 to 11 a.m. for a private tour at Houston Makerspace, 3605 Texas Street, where members and non-members will learn about this unique community centered warehouse studio, which includes shops for woodworking, welding, printing, jewelry making, ceramics, as well as a teaching farm.

Houston Makerspace opened in April 2014 and moved to their new 8500 square foot warehouse a year later. Maclean Smyth, the founder and operator of Houston Makerspace, will lead this free tour. “I believe that creativity aspires innovation and ambition in our culture,” Smyth says. “With this space, we can build a society of makers right here in Houston.”

Long-time Houston artist and teacher Armando Rodriguez has held printmaking lessons at the Art League, Houston for years. Now he’s offering audiences the opportunity to learn about his studio and equipment, and will share his perspective on his own work.

Rodriguez was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. as a child. He received a BFA in printmaking from the University of Houston in 1982 and works in many media including photography, etching, lithography and monotype, graphic design and bookmaking. In addition to teaching at Art League, Houston, he also works for the Houston Chronicle and in the education department at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The Art Collection of the Federal Reserve Bank, Houston Branch has about 60 pieces of diverse contemporary art, mainly by Texas artists. Some of the artists represented in this collection are Al Souza, Aaron Parazette, Dario Robleto, Helen Altman, Dixie Friend Gay, and Lance Letscher.

There will be a limit of 30 attendees for this tour, on a first come - first served basis.The tour will begin at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, August 3.Please arrive in the lobby at the Federal Reserve Bank by 12:45 PM.The tour will last approximately 1 hour.

*Please RSVP to Diane Gelman at dianegel@aol.com or 713-819-6377 by 1:00 PM on Monday, August 1.

A list of attendees will be submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank and will be used by the Security Guards for check in. Only those who are on this list will be allowed to attend. Please park in the Bank Visitor Parking Lot behind the Bank, entering from Taft Street. The Bank is located at 1801 Allen Parkway between Taft, Gillette and Dallas Streets.

Join VAA for a tour of Legacy Fine Art Foundry on Wednesday, October 5 at 6 pm. This full-service foundry offers all services related to casting in bronze, stainless steel, resin, fiberglass and plaster. Sculptures made at the foundry are also on display. Legacy Fine Art is located at 4071 Hollister Street, Houston, TX 77080. The tour is open to members and non members of VAA. Also, Legacy Fine Art does allow photography by guests on tour.

In this richly illustrated lecture Dr. Anna Tahinci will analyze a variety of artworks from the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in relation both to formal elements (line, space, light and color, form, texture, and pattern) and the principles of design (balance, scale, proportion, rhythm, unity, and variety). Universal themes will be studied within historical, political, economic, sociological, conceptual, and aesthetic contexts. Join Visual Arts Alliance on November 12, 2016 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. at The Printing Museum, 1324 West Clay, Houston, 77019 for this free lecture. Members and non-members are welcome.

Dr. Anna Tahinci is Professor and Head of Art History at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She has worked at the Musée Rodin, the Musée d’Orsay, the Harvard Art Museums, and the Louvre. She studied History and Archaeology in Greece, Museum Studies at the Ecole du Louvre, and Comparative Literature and Art History at the Sorbonne. She received her Ph.D. from the Sorbonne with a specialization on 19th and 20th century French sculpture (dissertation on Rodin's collectors during his lifetime). Dr. Tahinci has taught at Boston University–Paris, the University of Minnesota, Macalester College, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design as well as the University of Houston. She co-curated the sculpture exhibition for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and the exhibition "Rodin and America" at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University in 2011.

On December 7 at 6 p.m., Visual Arts Alliance is offering a guided tour at Lawndale Art Center, 4912 Main Street.

Each year, through a competitive application process, Lawndale Art Center awards three artists with a studio and support for nine months, including a monthly stipend, studio visits and an exhibition at the end of their residency.

The tour will include Double Digits: Lawndale's Artist Studio Program, 10 Years and Counting. This exhibition celebrates not only the thirty artists who have participated in the Artist Studio Program since 2006 but also the vital contribution that the Artist Studio Program has made to the Houston art community. Also included will be the Lawndale Archives, Gulf Coast Collaboration and Project Space with Lawndale Live by Maurice Duhon, Jr., Phillip Pyle II, Jawwaad Taylor and Stephen Wilson.